Question of the Day

Did illegal voters swing any congressional races?

Sen. George Allen predicted last year that Democrats would seek revenge against him for helping make Republican gains in the Senate, and it appears he was right.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the two Democrats hoping to replace him and the New Hampshire Democratic Party last week delivered stinging messages about the Virginia Republican and even called for his resignation.

The groups criticized Mr. Allen, calling him “bored George,” for complaining about the slow pace of the Senate. They also say he should decide whether he is running for re-election or making a bid for the White House.

Mr. Allen was chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee in 2004 when his party picked up four seats, adding to the chamber’s Republican majority and ousting Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota.

“I’m probably one of their least favorites,” Mr. Allen said in June. “They are going to have all the national liberal money coming in for whoever that opponent is.”

So far, he has two Democratic opponents — Harris Miller and James Webb. They will face each other in a June primary.

The “bored George” moniker was in response to a March 26 New York Times article, which quoted Mr. Allen as saying he made more decisions in “half a day” as governor of Virginia than he makes in a “whole week” in the Senate.

“It’s too slow for me,” he said in the article.

Mr. Allen’s staff said the comment was meant to show how Democrats slow down the process by blocking legislation, but the DSCC seized on the remark with several memos suggesting more exciting jobs for the senator.

“Bored George’s comments, while bizarre, only serve to underscore the precarious situation he’s positioned himself in by running for president while his re-election in Virginia is anything but assured,” read one memo that suggested he replace retiring National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue.

Mr. Allen’s father coached the Los Angeles Rams and Washington Redskins. Mr. Allen, who played football at the University of Virginia, works pigskin references into most of his floor speeches.

Mr. Miller, a Northern Virginia businessman, last Monday called for Mr. Allen to resign his seat if he is “too bored” with the slow-moving Senate.

Mr. Allen is acting like a “part-time” senator, said Kristian Denny Todd, a spokeswoman for Mr. Webb, who served as President Reagan’s secretary of the navy.

She said that because he votes “lockstep” with the Republican Party and President Bush, “It shouldn’t be a big surprise for him that things aren’t getting done.”

New Hampshire Democrats last week reminded voters in the key presidential primary state that Mr. Allen has been criticized by civil rights groups “for keeping a hangman’s noose on the wall of his Virginia office, and a confederate flag outside his house.”